This invention relates to a plastic case for holding beverage containers such as soft drink containers and the like. It relates more particularly to a case of this type having partitions which are removable and replaceable selectively to permit the case to accommodate the various bottle pack configurations presently in use.
Plastic cases are used to protectively enclose frangible containers when they are being transported from the bottler to the supermarket or other point of retail sale. Such cases are made of a suitable impact resistent plastic such as high density polyethylene and they are rugged so that they can be returned to the bottler and be reused a number of times.
The dimensions of such plastic cases depend upon the size and number of bottles which the particular case is intended to accommodate. A typical case may have room for twelve quart size bottles. Another case might be sized to contain six 2-liter bottles. Although there are some cases that do not have any interior partitioning, it is generally advisable to provide partitioning within the case in order to separate the individual bottles so that they cannot impact against one another during handling. Thus many present day cases have partitioning that divides the case interior into equal-size compartments for accommodating, say, twelve quart bottles or six 2-liter bottles. Usually the partitions are formed integrally with the case during a single molding operation.
Such cases do accommodate and protect individual bottles quite nicely. However there has been a growing tendency to merchandise soft drinks in multiple-pack containers. In other words, the bottler might group two 2-liter bottles together in a plastic or fibreboard carton or wrap to form a "two-pack". Alternatively the bottler may wish to distribute a group of four such bottles as a four pack. Of course, all the while the bottler wants to retain the option of distributing individual bottles. It is apparent then that the merchandizing of beverage containers in different pack configurations raises certain handling and transportation problems.
More particularly, the containers must be transported in plastic cases whose interior partitioning is compatible with the pack configuration of the bottles in that case. For example, if the above described six-bottle case is to accommodate two single bottles and one four pack, one transverse partition and two-thirds of the longitudinal partition must be removed from the case in order for it to receive the four pack. On the other hand, in order to accommodate four single bottles and one two-pack, one-third of the longitudinal partition must be omitted.
The problem is made more difficult because the bottler never knows which pack configuration will prove popular at any given time in any given area. Resultantly he must maintain an inventory of cases having different interior partitioning configurations to accommodate the various container packs described above. Needless to say, this greatly increases the bottler's warehousing and distribution costs. To avoid these problems the bottler may opt to provide no partitioning at all in any case. In that event, however, the cases do not adequately protect individual bottles which are now free to impact against one another during handling.
Some attempts have been made to provide cases with removable and replaceable partition structure. However, they have not proven to be practical in use. Invariably the partitions are formed separately from the case per se, greatly increasing the molding costs and making the case more expensive to produce. Further, many of these prior cases require special clips and fasteners to reanchor the partitions to the case bottom. These are not only difficult to manipulate but also they are frequently lost. Such prior cases are shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,200,988, 3,055,531 and 3,353,704.
Prior cases are disadvantaged also because they are difficult to arrange in an eye-pleasing array for display and distribution purposes at the point of sale. Consequently the prior practice has been to remove the bottles from the cases and to place them on shelves or racks in the store which practice further increases handling costs and the incidence of breakage.